New preprint server for the health sciences

MedRxiv, a new preprint server exclusively for medical and health science publications, was just launched and is expected to begin accepting papers today. The BMJ, Yale University, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory — which also created the preprint server known as bioRxiv for all biological research papers — will run the new server. Researchers user such servers to solicit feedback on articles ahead of publication in peer-reviewed journals. The server will only accept research articles, not opinion pieces or case reports. Because medical preprints could be misinterpreted or used too hastily by the public, preprints on medRxiv will be clearly labeled as being pre-peer-reviewed publications. If there’s any doubt that an article could potentially harm the public, medRxiv will not post the article, asking authors to instead to go through the peer-review process.